Read these words as truth about the Father and also as a declaration for your life. If you know how to song goes, try not to sing it. Speak it, PROCLAIM IT!
“Oh, the overwhelming never-ending reckless love of God,
It chases me down, fights till I’m found, leaves the 99.
I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it,
Still You give Yourself away.
There’s no shadow you won’t light up,
No mountain you won’t climb up chasing after me.
There’s no wall you won’t kick down,
Lie you won’t tear down coming after me.”
~Lyrics from Reckless Love by Jesus Culture
To love like The Father: that’s the goal, right? Here in Romania, we are working with Hope Church. Hope Church is run by Raul Costea and his brilliant crew of pioneers, and THEY are filled with reckless love. The song above has been stuck in my head since we got here and after a day of ministry and orientation, I now know why. I am surrounded by hearts fighting for Christ’s goal. What a beautiful thing to live with… excitement is rushing through me for this culture and people. Here are some snapshots of some of my favorite sights and faces on our journey so far:
Our first day of ministry was Eyeglass Ministry! This entailed giving glasses to those who needed them at a local church. This is the table filled with hundreds of eyewear options.
The reading test for the glasses is the New Testament. This woman in the photo is testing her new glasses by reading from the word.
This is another photo from our first day of ministry. One of our squad leaders, Amie Beth, is leading a woman who just got her glasses to the table with free bibles.
This was our first Romanian sunset, also the view from my team’s bedroom window.
Pictured here is myself and Carly and Haley, two of my teammates. These two have laughs that forever fill wherever they are.
BONUS INFO ABOUT TRAVELS!
As you can already pick up from my blog, we DID indeed make it to Romania! After an 18-hour bus ride from Atlanta to New York, a 24-hour layover in New York, a 7-hour flight to Portugal, a 12-hour layover in Portugal, a 4-hour flight to Romania, lots of car and bus rides, and a 2-hour train, we arrived at our ministry sight. HAH! Travel days are basically travel weeks. As awful as this sounds, I learned so much about myself and my squad in this time. I’m so glad to have made it and am very excited to share more with you all as it comes. Thank you for loving on me and supporting me as always.
PS… Raul, our ministry host, told us on the first day “you give me good ministry, I give you good vacation.
This evening, he is taking us to Greece for a few days. (God sure does love the HECK out of us!!)
Stay tuned for updates on this crazy awesome life with crazy amazing people.
Here’s some great music!
‘Reckless Love’ by
‘Fierce’ by Jesus Culture
‘La Vie En Rose’ by Daniela Andrade
Wow! what a long trip. So glad to see you and your team mates. Enjoyed the pictures. Nice to see God working through your hands and heart. Enjoy Greece ! Love you, Mama.
so glad you made it safely to Romania! I love reading about what God is doing in your ministry. Be reckless for God!! Hugs! ??
Oh Sweetie, a picture paints a thousand words… love your love of people! Thank you for sharing this! And I’m so excited that you will also be experiencing Greece!! God is sure being abundantly reckless with HIS love for you all!! And thank you, thank you, thank you for this wonderful proclamation!!! Not just a great reminder (a thing that causes someone to remember something.) of how reckless HE loves us all, but a proclamation (a public or official announcement, especially one dealing with a matter of great importance.)!!! Love you so much!!! xoxoxox
Hi! So glad you made it safely there!! The delays don’t sound fun at all, and that’s the evil one trying to dampen your spirits right from the start. I’m sure you all made the best of it knowing where you’re headed and why!! Thank you for all the pictures. Love seeing what you’re doing. Prayers, hugs, and love to you! Keep sharing God’s great love!
Bernadette, thanks for the update!!!!! You are certainly right where our awesome God wants you to be!!!!! Blessings on your time there!!! Enjoy and take in every moment!!! Sending our love, “Grandma” Pat and “Grandpa” Gerald
Good hearing from you and knowing you made it to Romania. What a trip!! What a wonderful opportunity it is to get to go to Greece. Have a great time. Love you, papa
So excited you are there and God is speaking to you! Love you Bernadette! Watch for the Holy Spirit’s movement in the every day moments! Love the story he is writing for you and those who God is putting in your path!
I am so glad you made it to Romania safely. What a reckless journey to get there!!! I am so glad you are experiencing the reckless love of God! He will use you and your team in a mighty way. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures from your ministry. I love reading your blog. It makes me feel your reckless love of God. Love you so much!
Love reading about your adventures. This makes me realize how important it is to grab life when you’re young. Any one of your travel adventures just to get to your country would have, as Eliza Doolittle would say, “done me in!” Looking forward to your next entry and praying for you, The Beavers
Bernadette
I’m so blessed to hear that you’re on the move with Him!
Take all the He hands you and make all the He asks of you.
Love you so much!
So happy you finally reached your first destination on your journey for God. Love you and keep those smiles shining.
Hey love!! I’m so glad you’re having an amazing time in Romania and I hope your time in Greece is rocking as well!! Can’t wait to keep hearing what God is doing in your life half way across the world!!
Love you,
Nick
Enjoy, Work, Love
Thank you for sharing the pictures. Thank you for sharing the songs too. Reckless Love is awesome! Can’t wait to hear more when we see you in 2 weeks. We are praying for you.
pretty RECKLESS for our God to leave the 99 all because he loves and cares for us so deeply am I right?! Thank you Papa, for teaching us that sometimes Reckless can be a good thing.
thank you so so much!!!! I’m excited to see how He’s moving!! 🙂
Your words never fail to make me smile! Thank you so much for being the best supporter and friend a girl could ask for, I LOVE YOU MUM!! 🙂 xoxoxo
Gosh I love you so much, Mama!! Thank you for the kind words 🙂
Yes I am so glad as well, thank you so much for your kind words and hugs! 🙂 Crazy amazing things are happening here in Romania, I love seeing it!
Thank you both SO much for your support and love!! Life is sailing along so quickly here, can’t wait to share more!
Thank you for your kind words, Papa!! I love you so much!!!
Thank you so much, Miss Dana!! The Lord is telling me and showing me so much lately, I am LOVING IT 🙂 thank you for your love!!
HI MRS. WHALEY! Thank you so so much for your sweet words and constant support throughout the race, you are so wonderful! Love you lots!!
HAH you just made me laugh out loud; you never fail to do that Aunt Jackie! I’m missing you and Mr. Beaver, I can’t wait to see and hear all about what God is doing in your lives! 🙂
Mr. Doug, thank you so much for your comment!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!
Thank you so much, Miss Susan! Your love is so sweet and genuine. Love you!
hey there sweet thang!! thank you for your sweet words, I can’t wait to hear all about your journey as well 🙂 love you!!
amen to that!!!
I am so very excited to see you both so soon!! I’ve been praying for you guys over our time here and since training camp, the Lord has encouraged me so much in seeing your relationship. Thank you for your love!
SO SO GOOD!! Reckless is such a great word, it’s fun being able to see it in a positive light. love you so much!!
This song was just stuck in my head too! Such a beautiful anthem for this month.
I just got to read this post of yours and WOW!! You always have had a way with words! I learned the song reckless love during my first few weeks at Taylor and it has stuck with me! God has been putting that song on my heart the past few days and it’s so cool to see that it means so much to you too!! I’m so excited for you on your journey and I’m praying for you girl!!! 🙂
Love the music recommendations at the end!
I love it so much!!
BIG SASSY!!!!! I love you so much, thank you for taking the time to read my work and love me so well!! sending hugs your way!!! 🙂
hey thanks, Kacie!!